The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — With fuel costs soaring and Oklahomans struggling to keep up, the statewide campaign for a seat on the state agency that regulates utilities and the oil and natural gas industry is getting a lot of attention.

State Rep. Rob Johnson and former administrative law judge Dana Murphy are seeking the Republican nomination for a seat on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Their July 29 primary election will determine which of them will face Democratic Commissioner Jim Roth in the Nov. 4 general election.

All three candidates are vying for the remaining two years of the unexpired term of former Commissioner Denise Bode, who resigned to take a position with a private foundation. Roth was appointed to the seat by Gov. Brad Henry.

The race between the GOP candidates is being waged as fuel prices climb to historic levels. The price of oil topped $140 a barrel on Friday — a new record — and natural gas sold for more than $13 per thousand cubic feet, approaching the all-time high price of about $15 per mcf set in December 2005.

Rising fuel costs and their impact on energy prices will place new emphasis on the Corporation Commission’s duty to assure that Oklahomans have reliable and affordable supplies of energy to power their homes and businesses, the candidates said.

“Oklahoma’s in a good place, but I think it’s going to be challenged to keep that place,” said Murphy, a former geologist who operates an oil and gas legal practice in Edmond.

“I think this is a good time to start adjusting our thermostat and learning how to change our lives. Because I think that what we do now is going to make a big difference in the future,” she said.

“I think as Americans we’re going to have to learn not to waste so much.”

Johnson, an attorney from Kingfisher and two-term state representatives who is majority whip in the Republican-controlled House, said a seat on the commission is one of the most important positions in the state.

“We need people that are going to be on the commission that are going to stand up for Oklahoma and promote us as an energy-producing state while being consumer advocates and watching out for the consumers,” Johnson said.

The campaign is Murphy’s second for a Corporation Commission post. A former vice chair of the state Republican Party, Murphy got 41 percent of the vote in a primary runoff contest in 2002 that was won by Commissioner Jeff Cloud.

Murphy said she has worked with the commission as an expert witness, practicing attorney and administrative law judge, credentials that she said make her the most qualified candidate in the race.

“I have a wide-ranging perspective of that agency and how things work,” said Murphy, who for six years was an administrative law judge primarily on oil and gas cases.

“When you know things from the bottom up, I think it really gives you a really solid fundamental basis for understanding,” she said. “I know the department. I know the people. I know how cases work. I have an in-depth understanding of the rules.”